The section east of Resolution Island has rela- 

 tively flat topography except for the first two sta- 

 tions near the island. The surface waters seem 

 to meander from offshore in towards the island 

 with the 971.0 dynamic meter contour demarking 

 the outboard extremity of the convergence men- 

 tioned above. Watei-s further offshore make a 

 slow circuitous trip towards the strait and then 

 turn back to the east under the influence of the 

 outflow of Hudson Strait. The east-west section 

 off Resolution Island is the area where Smith 

 (1937) cited the delay or hesitation in the move- 

 ment of icebergs during their trip south. 



To the south of Resolution Island, in the strait 

 entrance, high speed currents are displayed. The 

 northern one-third of the strait lias the strong 

 westerly current discussed above while the south- 

 em two-thirds has a very strong eastward outflow 

 in the center and slight reversal to the west around 

 the islands just to the north of Cape Chidley. A 

 strong outflow in the passage between Cape Chid- 

 ley and the offshore island is also indicated. 



The water flowing out of the strait turns 

 sharply soutii and commences its passage towards 

 the Grand Banks. The central jet of water pass- 

 ing out of the strait diverges as it turns south. 

 This divergence continues until a broad flat area 

 is developed in the southernmost section of figure 

 8. To the east of this divergence, offshore waters 

 from the Western Labrador Sea converge to- 

 wards, and are entrained with, the fast-moving 

 filaments of the current. To the west, the dynamic 

 height of the stations along the coast i-equire the 

 topographic contours to be drawn into the coast. 

 This is an unusual situation and points up the 

 limitations of the dynamic method. In the area 

 just to the east of Cape Chidley, the contours also 

 turned severly clockwise and intereect the coast. 

 In the center of this area, the 971.3 dynamic meter 

 contour forms a loop indicating a circular path 

 or eddy in the water. The area thus described by 

 the contour represents a hill, elevated above the 

 waters to the east and south and violated steady 

 state requirements for geostrophic flow. The light 

 water is definitely present, as indicated in the 

 property sections shown later herein, and should 

 ultimately flow towards a lower geopotential level 

 if the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium at 

 1000 meters holds. This means that cross isobaric 

 transport will probably take place before geo- 

 strophic flow along the isobare is set up. 



Witliout any dii'ect current measurements in this 

 area, reference must again be made to tlie isentropic 



charts of figui'es 6 and 7 for comparison. It can be 

 observed that the flow of water, as depicted by 

 the nitrite concentrations, on both the 26.2 and 27.0 

 sigma-t surfaces, indicate water movement to be 

 generally in a southeasterly direction off the Hud- 

 son Strait entrance. This tends to support the 

 dynamics shown in figure 8. To 'be noted here is 

 the expected coincidence of the 971.3 dynamic 

 meter line which describes an eddy off Cape 

 Chidley, with the depression in the 27.0 sigma-t 

 surface thus indicating the large slug or pulse of 

 light water present in the area. 



There is a distinct possibility that this pulse- 

 like structure of the water is a direct result of 

 pumping action caused by the tides. As pointed 

 out aJbove, the pressure-mass distribution indicates 

 a force moving water out of the strait entrance. 

 This force would become the dominant force at 

 the end of the ebb cuiTent flowing east from the 

 strait entrance. In this situation, resident water 

 from inside the strait would pass through the 

 strait entrance as the tidal currents ebbed and be- 

 gan to turn, thus allowing a net transport out. 

 Tliis pressure-mass force tending to move water 

 out of the strait would have the effect of prolong- 

 ing the ebb current and delaying the start, of the 

 flood. At this time the characteristic water from 

 inside the strait would pass eastward and turn 

 south prior to the tidal cuiTent reversal and the 

 movement of the adjacent waters back into the 

 strait. Because the pressure-mass distribution 

 force is constantly being exerted, less water move.s 

 back into the strait than is moved out. As will 

 be shown in a following section characteristic 

 Labrador Current water was found on both sides 

 of Cape Chidley, but very little was found directly 

 in the entrance to the strait. This can be explained 

 by tlie fact that tlie major amount of water moving 

 in and out of the entrance by tidal action is a 

 moderate mixture of the water found east and west 

 of tlie entrance. Tlie data in the area was obtained 

 during a 12-hour period. The tidal current was 

 ebbing when the stations were ocx^upied in the 

 southern lialf of the entrance, and flooding when 

 stations were occupied in the northern half of the 

 entrance. Because of this, it is believed that the 

 survey vessel was in the wrong part of the strait 

 entrance for observing the outpouring of the char- 

 acteristic Labi-ador Current water at the end of 

 the ebb current. This outpouring probably occui-s 

 just to the north of Cape Chidley and is supplied 

 by the band of cold low salinity water located just 



8 



